Thai FC Owner Plans $67M F1 Track To Be Completed By End Of '14

Thai Premier League club Buriram United President Newin Chidchob, who is also a former politician, "plans to construct a Formula One racetrack" worth about 2B baht ($67M) in his Thailand hometown of Buri Ram, according to the BANGKOK POST. Chidchob, also known as "Thunder castle," has contacted Tilke Engineers & Architects Founder Hermann Tilke, whose company has built dozens of racetracks worldwide and renovated several others, "to discuss the planned construction." The track is "expected to be completed by the end of next year" and will be built on a 500-rai plot near the club's i-Mobile stadium in the northeastern province. A club source said that the circuit "would initially host Formula 3 series events once completed and endorsed" by motorsports governing body FIA. More tracks will be built later "to support F1 racing." Chidchob also has plans "to build a racing academy and a motocross racetrack on the premises" (BANGKOK POST, 1/24).